Another black day. Shortly before 16 pm (Italian time) a terrorist attack took place in front of the London Parliament.
The session was immediately suspended and Parliament sealed. British Prime Minister Theresa May, who was inside when the attack took place, has been evacuated. Forty people were injured, some very seriously. A young Italian from Bologna, who has lived in the British capital for six years, was slightly injured. A woman who fell into the Thames was recovered from the waters of the river and is seriously injured. Four dead, including the assailant himself, a 43-year-old Spanish teacher, a 55-year-old man and a policeman.
According to the media, the attacker first hit passers-by on Westminster Bridge, crowded as always with tourists. Subsequently, armed with a knife, he allegedly stabbed an officer on guard inside Parliament, attempting to break into it through the gates of the Westminster compound. The attacker, of Asian origins, would have acted alone. He was shot and killed by the police. According to Prime Minister Theresa May, the British citizen was "already known by the British secret services, MI5, but he was considered a marginal element".
Eight arrests and six house searches were carried out overnight in Birmingham and in the British capital.
From Paris, the French prime minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, made official the presence among the wounded of three French high school students. At the Italian Consulate there are currently no compatriots involved.
After the initial precautions Scotland Yard confirmed that it was a terrorist attack:
Accident in #Westminster: We are treating this as a terrorist incident until we know otherwise
Metropolitan Police (@metpoliceuk) 22 March 2017
No claim has yet been received, but ISIS supporters, as reported by the site Site, which monitors Islamic extremism on the web, celebrate the London attack on their networks: "Blood to blood", "revenge" for the British bombing of Mosul.
Gates closed and armed officers guarding Buckingham Palace. This was reported by the Pa agency, according to which security measures have been raised at the palace. The queen would be inside the residence according to her banner (Royal Standard) which stands on top of the building. The preventive alert has also been triggered in Rome: the entrances to the Chamber and Senate are 'armored'.
